Day 73: May 16th, Virginia Beach to Kiptopeke State Park

When we woke up in our campground it was raining lightly and the forecast was for heavy rain for most of the day. We packed up as quickly as we could and hopped on our bikes just in time for the skies to open up and start dumping rain on us. After five very wet and unpleasant miles, we found a Starbucks where we took up residence for the next six hours. Thanks, friendly Starbucks staff. We spent the entirety of those six hours finalizing our decision to move to San Diego where I will be attending medical school at UCSD. Eventually around 2pm the skies cleared and we emerged from Starbucks for a celebratory lunch. The highlight of the day was getting to call my mom to wish her a happy birthday and let her know that we would be coming home to California for the next four years.

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This is what I look like when I’m soaking wet and contemplating my future

 

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Who needs expensive rain gear?

After lunch we headed for the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel entrance. Bicycling is not allowed on bridge-tunnel so the Virginia DOT will shuttle cyclists across in pickup trucks for the price of the $15 toll. We loaded our two bikes, eight bags and other miscellaneous swag into a pickup truck and an affable VDOT employee named Jesse drove us across to the eastern shore.

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Gear loaded

 

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Gear unloaded

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Triple wide in the VDOT pickup with our new friend Jesse

Across the Chesapeake, we reloaded our gear and rode to Kiptopeke State Park under clear blue skies.

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Sophie facetiming with Stoked friends at Kiptopeke State Park